wayanad
On a sweltering day in Wayanad, around 40 people gathered at Baduvanchal. A group of men with white handkerchiefs on their heads stand near a metal roundabout, facing a makeshift podium about 100 meters in front of them. group of women. One is wearing a sari, with a thin horizontal line of sandal paste drawn on her forehead. Burqa, take shelter in the shade under a giant speaker. They stand there in faith, staring at the podium and listening to several local communist leaders speak about topics such as the Citizenship Amendment Act and electoral bonds. Posters reading “Vote for Comrade Annie Raja” are posted on the podium and on the wall near it.
Suddenly, a man picks up several red flags with the “hammer and sickle” symbol of the Communist Party of India and heads toward the road where a white Toyota Innova is parked. The crowd rushes after him. When Annie Raja opened the front door of her car and got out, they surrounded her, waiting for a chance to shake her hand. She did not disappoint and with grace she marched with them towards the podium.
Mr. Raja, a senior CPI leader, is the Left Democratic Front’s 2024 general election candidate from Wayanad, along with Congress scion Rahul Gandhi and Bharatiya Janata Party’s K. Surendran, the sitting MPs from the constituency. You will be competing against. “The current Bharatiya Janata Party government is targeting Muslims. Next will be Christians and then non-Brahmans,” Mr. Raja said, adding, “If elected to power, I will not be here. “I promise to be with you forever,” he added, subtly criticizing Mr. Gandhi, and is said to have visited Mr. Gandhi. Wayanad has only won nine times since being elected.
Annie Raja, a senior CPI leader, is the Left Democratic Front’s 2024 general election candidate from Wayanad and will be pitted against Congress scion Rahul Gandhi.Photo courtesy: Special Arrangement
“I’ve heard a lot of complaints about the current members of Congress not being accessible. The people here deserve better, a member of Congress who will be with them all the way. I can be that too,” she later said. business line, on the way to the next campaign location. Mr. Raja, 58, is five years older than Gandhi. Born into a communist family in northern Kerala, she entered politics through the All India Students Federation (AISF), the student wing of the CPI. She then worked with AIYF and her CPI and served as president of the National Federation of Indian Women. But for Ms. Raja, this is her first election. “For us Communists, politics is more than just fighting elections. That is only part of it. Up until now, I had organizational responsibilities. Now, my party has given me new responsibilities. “If I am elected, my role will be to represent the people in Parliament,” she says.
Although the Left and the Congress are allies in India, they are at war with each other in some states such as Kerala. When asked about this, Mr. Raja said, “We are in an alliance to fight fascism, but we understood from an early stage that in Kerala we would fight as the Left Democratic Front (LDF) and the United Democratic Front (UDF).” ” he said. However, Ms. Raja did not hesitate to express her anger at Mr. Gandhi’s decision to contest the polls again from Wayanad. “There are states like Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Telangana where the Left and the Congress have an alliance. The leadership wanted him to fight from there, but he chose Wayanad again. If the Congress was serious about making him an MP, he could have contested the vote from any of these places. Now, Gandhi can’t take the fight against fascism so lightly. I’m starting to think there might be,” she said.
At the same time, she belittled Gandhi as a “big name” in Indian politics. “During the election, the king and the queen are people. She is highly critical of the Modi government for implementing the CAA, keeping NREGA wages low and not providing guarantees. Issuance of MSP and electoral bonds to protesting farmers. “During the day, it is dacoity. The Modi government committed corruption in the garb of law, but now the common man is aware of it. We are also spreading awareness about this issue while campaigning. “The government is only interested in buying and selling horses and arresting opposition leaders. They are not doing anything for ordinary people.”
https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/elections/i-can-be-the-mp-who-will-be-with-the-people-right-through-annie-raja/article68012445.ece